The use of social networking websites have become prevalent in modern society. Many popular websites, such as Facebook®, and Twitter®, have upwards of hundreds of millions of members. Social networking websites have revolutionized the way people communicate, share information, such as photos, movies, and the like, learn, and even get news.
One example of how important social networking websites have grown to be is the recent virtual “town hall” meeting held by U.S. President Barack Obama, on the social networking website Twitter®.
Social networking websites have been a boon to advertisers as well, since advertisements may be targeted to individual users based on user profiles.
Although social networking website users come in all shapes and sizes, the majority of social networking website users remain of a younger, non-affluent demographic. Affluent users have been reluctant to join, or at least frequently use, existing social networking websites due to privacy concerns and lack of socio-economic camaraderie.